Wednesday, November 17, 2010

You may not be ready to relive this. I get that. But you may find going over this disastrous quarter in detail actually lessens the shock value somewhat and lets you move on with your life. At least that's what reviewing the game tape does for me.

The offical play by play is in bold and taken from the official NFL Gamebook. My commentary is added below most plays in a different font.

Let’s see here. Orakpo is at ROLB – he initially bites on the play action and this allows the TE to seal him to the inside as Vick rolls out to his left. Meanwhile Hall completely fails to get any sort of jam on Jackson and he gets into his route far too easily, then he drives his route a bit to the outside to get Landry to turn his hips the wrong way before cutting in on the post having earned the inside leverage. The play is topped off, of course, by a pass that could not have been placed any more perfectly.D.Akers extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Dorenbos, Holder-S.Rocca. PENALTY on WAS-D.Hall, Face Mask (15 Yards), 15 yards, enforced between downs.

PHI 7 WAS 0, 1 plays, 88 yards, 0:18 drive, 0:18 elapsed

D.Akers kicks 55 yards from PHI 45 to end zone, Touchback.

Washington Redskins at 14:42

1-10-WAS 20 (14:42) K.Williams left end to WAS 24 for 4 yards (M.Patterson).

A Fred Davis-Trent Williams double team drives the RDE to the outside, and pins the SLB outside as well, while Rabach and Hicks are effective at getting out to the other two LBs. But Lichtensteiger is pushed into the backfield delaying Keiland in getting to the hole, so a DT is able to come down the line and grab him from behind after a modest gain despite the fact that he had blockers and a lot of open field ahead of him.

Lichtensteiger false starts but doesn’t get caught. Rabach is pushed into the backfield and Keiland runs into his back, but he bounces off him and manages to pick up a few yards because Trent drives a LB out of the hole.

Galloway and Armstrong are both tight to the left. Armstrong cuts the RDE and Galloway puts a decent block on the CB (by holding him, but whatever) while Trent does a good job of driving the DT to the inside and opening up a running lane. But there is no blocker left to account for the CB who was originally responsible for Armstrong, and he reads the play well and puts a hit on Keiland as he tries to make through what was a rather large hole.

1-10-WAS 48 (12:12) J.Maclin right end pushed ob at WAS 37 for 11 yards (D.Hall). Reverse from 10-Jackson

A real reverse, not one of those end arounds that TV announcers tend to call a reverse despite the fact that they describe football plays for a living and should really know better (sorry - pet peeve of mine). Orakpo is neutralized as backside pursuit due to the initial action to his side. Carriker is at LDE and fights his way upfield to be in perfect position, but is simply held allowing Maclin to make the corner.

1-10-WAS 37 (11:42) (Shotgun) L.McCoy up the middle to WAS 34 for 3 yards (B.Orakpo; L.Landry).

2-7-WAS 34 (11:00) (Shotgun) M.Vick pass short right to L.McCoy pushed ob at WAS 7 for 27 yards (L.Landry).

All three interior linemen let the pass rush slip through to set up the blocking on the screen. The center drives Rocky to the outside, then the guards race downfield to put blocks on Fletcher and Hall.

Only the three linemen rush, and Carriker forgets who he’s playing against and lets himself get worked to the inside to give Vick an easy escape route. Then we’ve all seen what happened to Lorenzo Alexander when he tried to make an open field tackle on Vick.

D.Akers extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Dorenbos, Holder-S.Rocca.

PHI 14 WAS 0, 5 plays, 63 yards, 2:34 drive, 4:43 elapsed

D.Akers kicks 74 yards from PHI 30 to WAS -4. B.Banks pushed ob at WAS 26 for 30 yards (A.Jordan).

Washington Redskins at 10:17, (1st play from scrimmage 10:12)

1-10-WAS 26 (10:12) (Shotgun) D.McNabb pass short left to A.Armstrong to WAS 27 for 1 yard (Q.Mikell).

Trent Williams loses a footrace to set up the blocking on the outside, and a DB races past him to stuff the screen.

2-9-WAS 27 (9:37) D.McNabb pass short left to S.Moss to WAS 32 for 5 yards (D.Patterson).

Eagles blitz eight. Keiland does a good job of picking up a LB coming through the left B gap, but there just aren’t enough blockers to account for the edge rushers so McNabb is forced to go hot.

3-4-WAS 32 (9:02) D.McNabb pass short middle intended for S.Moss INTERCEPTED by K.Coleman at WAS 44. K.Coleman to WAS 37 for 7 yards (S.Moss).

This time Keiland completely whiffs on the blitzing LB, but McNabb sidesteps him and manages to slip to the outside and reset. The throw is on-target or at least close enough, but it bounces off Santana’s hands and straight to the safety.

Philadelphia Eagles at 8:52

1-10-WAS 37 (8:52) M.Vick scrambles right end to WAS 24 for 13 yards (D.Hall).

OK, either Alexander or Carriker must have been responsible for contain here but the both get sucked way too far inside because it apparently never occurs to them that Vick might have the ability to change direction and the run. Downfield Rocky has would be a good angle if facing a reasonable human being, but of course has no chance to keep Vick from the first down.

1-10-WAS 24 (8:20) J.Harrison left tackle to WAS 24 for no gain (A.Haynesworth, L.Fletcher).

Haynesworth fights through the LG’s chip and then overpowers the C to collapse the hole.

2-10-WAS 24 (7:41) (Shotgun) Direct snap to D.Jackson. D.Jackson right end to WAS 19 for 5 yards (D.Hall).

A WR blocks Orakpo to the inside, and the entire right side of the Eagles line pulls. The RT drives Rocky outside and the TE cuts Landry, but the pulling C and G miss Hall, who makes a very solid tackle.

3-5-WAS 19 (6:56) (Shotgun) M.Vick pass short left to J.Avant to WAS 8 for 11 yards (P.Buchanon).

1-8-WAS 8 (6:11) (Shotgun) M.Vick pass short left to L.McCoy to WAS 6 for 2 yards (C.Rogers, K.Moore).

The center gets under Haynesworth’s pads and stands him up, the Carter gets all wide-eyed at his free path to Vick from RDE so he gets sucked in and perfectly sets up the shovel pass. They are the only two linemen, so of course there are blockers all over the LBs and safeties.

D.Akers extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Dorenbos, Holder-S.Rocca.

PHI 21 WAS 0, 6 plays, 37 yards, 3:50 drive, 9:58 elapsed

D.Akers kicks 70 yards from PHI 30 to WAS 0. B.Banks to WAS 23 for 23 yards (C.Anderson).

Washington Redskins at 5:02, (1st play from scrimmage 4:57)

1-10-WAS 23 (4:57) K.Williams left end to WAS 27 for 4 yards (S.Bradley; M.Patterson).

2-6-WAS 27 (4:25) K.Williams right end to WAS 30 for 3 yards (S.Bradley; T.Cole).

1-10-PHI 35 (2:48) (Shotgun) M.Vick pass short right to J.Harrison to 50 for 15 yards (L.Fletcher).

Haynesworth is cut, and he rolls over the back of the blocker but into the FB. The RB had lined up in the slot and Rogers lined up with a strong outside alignment. He gets beat on the in route but it appears he was expecting help on the inside – London Fletcher is the prime suspect.

1-10-50 (2:10) J.Harrison left tackle for 50 yards, TOUCHDOWN.

It’s getting tempting to just say F- this and go to bed, but I’m going to stick it out through the end of the quarter. LT seals Daniels (RDE) inside, FB kicks out Orakpo (who continues to struggle against run blocks by FBs and TEs). Rocky bites on the counter action, which lets the LG get to him at the second level and hold him in the middle of the field. Kareem Moore has a shot at him but ends up on the ground after missing his tackle by about 8 feet because he is really bad at his job. Then the RB cuts back and runs through a tackle by DeAngelo Hall. In all seriousness – how many of the long runs given up by the Redskins this year involve a missed tackle by Kareem Moore? If it’s not 100% it’s close.

D.Akers extra point is GOOD, Center-J.Dorenbos, Holder-S.Rocca.

PHI 28 WAS 0, 3 plays, 77 yards, 1:34 drive, 13:05 elapsed

D.Akers kicks 73 yards from PHI 30 to WAS -3. B.Banks to WAS 19 for 22 yards (J.Chaney; K.Clayton).

Washington Redskins at 1:55, (1st play from scrimmage 1:48)

1-10-WAS 19 (1:48) K.Williams left end to WAS 21 for 2 yards (Q.Mikell; M.Patterson).

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Staying Medium

This blog, originally founded in the heyday of the Jim Zorn era, is dedicated to countering the irrational euphoria or despair that follows every Washington Redskins win or loss by keeping the focus on the play on the field. You will find I often talk about the boring things like blocking and punting. That's because those things are important. You can email me at stayingmedium@gmail.com or find me on twitter at @staymediumblog.